Loma Vista Marketplace added a breakfast restaurant when Batter Up Pancakes opened its third location there on October 30, at the southwest corner of Shaw and Leonard avenues in eastern Clovis. The restaurant is the brand’s first franchise and is owned by Fresno native Hilary Traina, who lives across the street.
Loma Vista’s broader growth plan
The Marketplace is part of the wider Loma Vista area. The City of Clovis says the Specific Plan area covers approximately 3,300 acres, generally bounded by Bullard Avenue, the Gould Canal, Locan and McCall. The city describes community centers as social, entertainment, cultural and commercial hubs, and says its long-range vision is for Loma Vista eventually to be home to almost 30,000 residents. That places the restaurant opening within a broader plan for growth on Clovis’s eastern edge.
Other retail projects in eastern Clovis
Retail development is also being proposed elsewhere in Clovis. In November 2022, The Business Journal reported on a proposed 7,500-square-foot retail development at Alluvial and Temperance avenues, a separate project from Loma Vista Marketplace.
Traina grew up in Fresno and graduated from Hoover High, according to The Fresno Bee. Batter Up’s other two locations are at Cedar and Nees avenues in Fresno and near Herndon and Fowler avenues in Clovis.
Same Recipe, New Owner
Batter Up was founded by the Colla family in 2009. The Clovis restaurant keeps signature menu items such as cinnamon roll pancakes and chile verde. The Fresno Bee reported in an earlier preview that the franchise would use the same menu and pancake recipe as the existing restaurants, and its later report confirmed the Clovis site is the brand’s first franchised location.
The Bee reports that the kitchen makes much of its food from scratch, including tortilla chips fried in-house from full-sized tortillas, and serves freshly squeezed orange juice. During busy periods, staff use an egg-cracking machine. Traina told the paper the restaurant cracks more than 1,000 eggs a week and uses no imitation eggs.
An Egg-Heavy Legacy
For comparison, The Fresno Bee previously reported that the Cedar and Nees location uses 5,400 eggs a week and that diners there have sometimes waited as long as two hours for a table. It remains to be seen whether the new Clovis restaurant will draw similar lines.
The new restaurant serves Otherside Coffee, while Batter Up’s other locations serve Fresno-based Lanna Coffee, according to The Fresno Bee.
Patio Built for Dogs and People
The 80-seat patio welcomes dogs and includes a dedicated dog menu. The Fresno Bee reports that one offering, the Barkfast Scramble, pairs scrambled eggs with an unseasoned turkey sausage patty. Traina, who has eight dogs, told the paper that the patio is expected to get heaters, misters and a more solid roof.
A mural of Valley scenes, including peaches and almond blossoms, was painted by J. Hernandez, a college friend of Traina’s from Denver, according to The Fresno Bee. Batter Up Pancakes’ website lists the new location at 3650 Shaw Ave. as open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its menu includes a buttermilk pancake with cinnamon roll swirl and cream cheese drizzle, as well as a breakfast burrito with pork chili verde, scrambled eggs, country potatoes and cheese, served with salsa.
Ordering Options and What's Ahead
The restaurant has a pickup window for online orders placed through its website, DoorDash and Uber Eats. However, Batter Up Pancakes’ website currently says online ordering is not available and that service is in-person only. A grand opening celebration is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday.
Cristina Colla Strubert, a member of the family that owns the original Batter Up locations, told The Fresno Bee the chain may add more franchises and that she is comfortable with franchisees making changes as long as food quality remains consistent. The family told the paper it began franchising after previously owning a Great Harvest Bread Co. franchise. It was also working with several potential out-of-state franchisees, though the outcome was uncertain, as reported by The Fresno Bee.
Batter Up’s locations have changed over time. The Herndon and Fowler restaurant opened in Clovis in 2023 inside a former Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, while the Cedar and Nees location remained open. The Fresno Bee reported that an earlier restaurant on Figarden Drive closed because of a lack of business; at the time, a specialty pancake started at $13.99 and prices reached $22.99.
